TikTok has a new target

Watch your backs, Spotify and Apple Music, because you’re next on the hit list. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has filed trademark applications in nearly a dozen countries in recent weeks, including the US and UK, for a potential music streaming service called “TikTok Music.”

🎶📱 A deeper dive… TikTok, which originally started as Music.ly, is already a hub for discovering and rediscovering music. 67% of users say that they’re more likely to seek out a song they heard on the app on a music streaming platform, plus both Spotify and Apple Music’s top curated playlists currently feature dozens of songs that first went viral on the video-based social app.

For those without TikTok, the current behavior of a user looks something like this: opens app → dating advice *scroll* storytime *sips tea, scrolls* musician playing a song in their room *likes video* → then opens Spotify or Apple Music to save the song to a playlist. Providing an in-house streaming solution would allow TikTok to capitalize upon that traffic, and the sweet, sweet revenue that could go with it.

• The global music streaming market is projected to reach $30+ billion this year, growing to $44 billion by 2027.

🧠 In the know: ByteDance already operates a music streaming service in India, Brazil, and Indonesia, called Resso. All of the app’s US filings include similar descriptions of TikTok Music’s functionality, providing the ability to listen to music and podcasts, create playlists, comment on songs, and sing karaoke.

Now… how soon until Facebook follows suit?🤔